Rethinking transportation : planning and building resilient systems to meet global externalities

Abstract

Environmental sustainability has become an essential part in the planning and construction of modern transport infrastructure. External pressures and agreements to achieve environmental sustainability targets need to be considered constantly, as South Africa is a signatory to global stewardship in managing common environmental problems. Currently, there are innovative ideas in terms of making transport infrastructure more environmentally sustainable, however, many of them are expensive and often untested, especially within the South African context. As such South Africa has identified indicators and variables that represent the country’s ability to respond to the global stewardship collectively, one of which is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This essay argues that rather than spending money on uncertain innovations, changes in the current transportation system such as traffic control methods may result in large scale greenhouse gas emissions savings. Through an analysis of stop-controlled intersections and modern traffic circles, it is shown that the potential benefits of traffic circles may warrant their implementation over stop-controlled intersections. An increased benefit in not only traffic flow, but driver safety as well, coupled with potential large-scale greenhouse gas emissions savings are also present with the implementation of traffic circles.